Concert Band Member of the Week 11/18

Austin P.

Article in the Arlington Citizen-Journal

There is an article in today's edition of the Arlington Citizen-Journal about the changes to beginning band, and it features pictures from last Friday's Boles Symphonic Band rehearsal!

Here's one of the pictures the photographer snapped:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE

Concert Band Member of the Week 11/11/13

Victoria M.

Beginning Band for 2014-2015

Boles Band Cluster Family,

You may have heard that AISD made a major announcement this week -- starting next school year (2014-2015), band will start in 7th grade instead of 6th grade. As parents of the band community, I want to make sure you are well-informed about this change (even if your youngest child is already in the band).

Visit this link for the official AISD communication about this decision: http://www.aisd.net/AISD/Portals/95/temp/Beginning Band.pdf

I want you all to know that Mrs. Parker and I support beginning band in 7th grade. Please visit the link for the full reasoning behind it, but we are in favor for two main reasons:

1. Students will have beginning band in like-instrument classes every day. This means that instead of seeing us every other day (I am also calling Moore's schedule "every other day" because 20 minutes isn't long enough to accomplish much, as the kids will tell you), with at least four instruments in the class, they will see us every day with only other students that play their instrument. This translates to having a trumpet class every day, a flute class every day ... you get the idea. The most successful districts in the state use this model.

2. Right now the Martin Band cluster is spread across TEN campuses. Next year, we will be on THREE campuses .... with the same staff. We will be able to utilize the high school directors in a much more meaningful way when they have two feeder campuses to visit instead of nine. This means that your kids have more band directors that they see on a regular basis, and that is a good thing!

We are going to cherish this last year of 6th grade band at Corey, Moore, and Wood, and our current sixth graders should take pride in being the last band students from their elementary schools. We will keep you informed as we build our schedule at Boles for next year. If you have any questions about this, please ask either Mrs. Parker or myself directly and we will answer to the best of our ability. As you can imagine, we don't have all of the answers at this point, but rest assured that we are working through all of the unknowns to build the best possible band program for our students.

One thing I do know is this: if you know any current sixth graders who missed out on beginning band for whatever reason this year, you should encourage them to start next year!!

Concert Band Members of the Week!

Week of October 28 - Jonathan V.

 Week of November 4 - Maddie W.

All-Region Results

Congratulations to our two Boles Band members that earned a placement in the Region 5 Band! This is the highest honor a junior high musician can achieve.

WILSON P. is 5th chair Trumpet in the Concert Band!
GREG T. is 1st chair Alto Sax in the Symphonic Band! That means that Greg had the best alto sax audition out of all of the alto saxophone players in Arlington ISD, Birdville ISD, and Mansfield ISD!

They will both get to perform with the All-Region Band at the Willie Pigg auditorium in Mansfield on Saturday, December 7th.

I am so proud of everybody that auditioned for All-City and All-Region!

All-Region Phase 1 Results

CONGRATS to the 9 Boles Bulldogs that advanced from Phase 1 to Phase 2. We had more students advance to Phase 2 than any other junior high in AISD!

Clarinet - Courtney S.
Clarinet - Vidal. R
Alto Sax - Greg T.
Trumpet - Wilson P.
Trumpet - Kyle T.
Trumpet - Keller H.
Horn - Emmi T.
Percussion - Nik T.
Percussion - Eric H.

They get to compete for a spot in the All-Region Band on Saturday at North Richland Middle School, along with everyone who has a single phased audition.

I'd also like to give a shoutout to two 7th graders who were close to making Phase 2. Ben F. (Clarinet) missed advancing by only 5 chairs (out of a LOT of Clarinets!!) and Hunter T. (Trumpet) missed advancing by only TWO chairs! Great job, guys. The future is bright at Boles JH.

I will have full results to share in the morning, hopefully. :)

All-Region Audition Info

Here is the information All-Region auditions next week. Most Symphonic Band members are going to this audition. Please read the handout and let us know if you have any questions.

HANDOUT

Map to Juan Seguin

Map to North Richland MS

Concert Band Member of The Week

Week of October 21: Ryley W!